Wavelengths

From Singapore to Long Beach, it's time for APEX EXPO! 

SmartSky Networks is pleased to be the Diamond Sponsor for APEX EXPO 2017 in Long Beach, CA. Beginning Monday, September 24 through Thursday, September 28, we’ll exhibiting at Stand 1229, so stop by our booth to say hello and learn more about SmartSky's great solutions and products for Commercial Aviation.

The SmartSky Networks team successfully completed a demonstration flight of the world's first 4G LTE airborne network at Duncan Aviation in Lincoln, Nebraska last week. Eric Brooks, VP Product Management, took part in the demonstration flight. 

SmartSky's Senior Vice President of Digital Aviation, James Ladd, has been selected to participate on the 2018 Global Connected Aircraft Advisory Board.

The Global Connected Aircraft Summit provides airlines, operators, integrators, and technology vendors complete connected solutions – from ground to air and from nose to tail. The Advisory Board is composed of the industry’s most forward thinking leaders. Their main responsibility is to guide the Summit to cover relevant content that will connect business, technology, and industry perspectives that will go beyond just in-flight entertainment to include operations, communications and technologies that impact the aircraft.

Mary Rogozinski Candidate for Director, APEX Board
Name: Mary Rogozinski
Company: SmartSky Networks
Position: VP, Airlines

I think that the Board needs to be more diverse, representing more of the various types of businesses of our members.  As a Board member, I would bring a broad range of experience in our industry, having worked in both the airline and vendor communities, managed IFEC hardware and IFE content, managed inflight entertainment and inflight connectivity programs, developed customer products for both airplanes and airports, and previously serving on the Board, as President and Board member, representing both airline and vendor companies.  

We sent out a survey to the SmartSky Team to give you some insight into our dynamic group of employees. Many are trained in Engineering, but what other college majors are represented? How many people are right handed versus left handed? Are dogs or cats preferred? These and more questions are answered in our first Staff Survey Infographic. Have a question you'd like surveyed? Let us know in the comments below.

Survey says... 

At the APEX TECH conference in Los Angeles in June, SmartSky Networks’ President, Ryan Stone, participated on a connectivity panel with representatives from Inmarsat, ViaSat, Gogo, and Panasonic Avionics. We asked Ryan to share his thoughts on the panel and provide some insight into ATG in Commercial Aviation as APEX EXPO approaches. You can read Ryan’s Pre-APEX TECH Interview on the APEX website here: https://apex.aero/2017/06/06/pre-apex-tech-interview-smartsky-president-when-open-kimono

What did you learn from the other panelists? 

The future is going to be pretty exciting, as the pace of technology change is accelerating.  Many companies are developing new software-based applications to take advantage of better connectivity. These advances should significantly improve the passenger experience. 

Big Data and the Internet of Things are knocking on aviation’s door, which will mean more data will need to come off airplanes than ever before.  At the same time, as expectations continue to rise, passengers do not care about “details” related to radio physics limitations and frequency bands, they just want their devices in the air to work exactly as they do on the ground. 

What was a topic of discussion on Business Insider a few years ago is quickly becoming a reality: Managing Aircraft Big Data.

Two weeks ago, SmartSky's VP of Product Development, Blane Rockafellow, participated on a panel detailing connectivity that supports real-time aircraft monitoring and the Big Data it creates. Modern aircraft are capable of transmitting huge amounts of data, leaving operators to look for new ways to more efficiently capture and analyze the bits they can act upon.

Jason Natwick recently joined the SmartSky team as Vice President of Product Management. We sat down with Jason to find out more about his love of aviation, experience, and fun facts.

What is the best career advice you have been given? 

Earn it, don’t expect it. I am a firm believer in earning your opportunities without waiting for someone to give you something. If your peers see your motivation, they will acknowledge your hard work and your actions might motivate them to grow themselves. 

What’s a fun fact about you most people don’t know?